Book One: Princess of the Nile
by hollowed-konshens
Summary: Nanao wondered aimlessly through the desert with her own veiws on society and refused to conform to any type of order. When tragedy strikes once more she finds that she is called to duty; Nanao soon finds that life doesn't always have its choices...
1. Desert Dweller

Book One: Princess of the Nile

Chapter One: desert dweller

'Is it selfish to crave for a truth?'

'Is anyone really happy when given the delicious fantasy of a lie?'

In my short years I have experienced a personal trauma that haunts every weighted step I take. I trudge through the sands of the Sahara, in search for a truth. Though my journey is difficult much like the solution to my problem, I find it is a necessary pilgrimage that I must make to find inner peace. I pause pondering my next move. Quite honestly…I'm unsure. A quick glance around and I feel as if I have been traveling in circles, or worst, that my destination, is unapproachable. Everything looks the same: the grains of sand, the curving dunes carving a horizon, the cloudless blue sky, the wavering image of a simmering Sahara.

'It's hot…'

'Really hot'

I can feel that my body is becoming irritated; the suns rays have long past penetrated my cloth and sought to bake my innards with its beams. My material was simply a tattered cotton ensemble designed to protect me from such instances. My face hidden discreetly with my hijab, however the clothes that I donned would need to be forsaken if wanted to find what I was looking for. In a quick movement I removed my clothing and instead opted for a makeshift design. I pulled down my hijab a little lower so as to smell out my path.

'The smell of my own musk rose into my nostrils. The smell of decaying sun-baked carcasses wafted into my nose.'

'The aroma of water drifted into my nostrils,'

I pulled the rest of my head garment to allow my ears to listen to the sounds of animated bodies. I looked back at my footprints, little imprints in the sand…they would disappear by nightfall, I had hoped. I wanted no connection to my past. I would finally return to what I had left behind, a family…a real family. My steps were measured, and silent apart from the sound of falling sand from my lifted feet. I climaxed upon a rising mound, and used minor strength to lug my body upwards. When I pinnacled I stood upright observing the little community.

'Mothers with their young on their backs; the sounds of cubs gleefully chasing each other around the watering hole.'

'The smell of a fresh kill, equally being divided amongst the group I licked my lips and tasted the sourness of my sweat.'

I felt as though my excursion into the desert had taught me nothing…if anything the only lesson I learned was that a home is where your heart is, currently my heart is somewhere else, but I was accepted here, so I suppose that it was the best that I would ever know for a while.


	2. Red

Book One: Princess of the Nile

Chapter Two: Red

'Silence…'

'Festive noises just seemed to drone on and on.'

The sun began to dip below the sand. The wind had begun to pick up, my hair braided away from my face courtesy of my fellow tribe sister, a few strands danced in rhythm to the wind. I pulled my legs into my body my back facing the group of howling hyena demons rejoicing once more in another night of debauchery. The males got drunk off of the spoils they had acquired from the human villages we passed. The women whored themselves in different pitched tents and sat in circles amongst themselves smoking herbs of 'good feelings'. The girl children danced like little heathens whilst the sounds of hooting boy cubs encouraged them to gyrate harder on air, some of the brazen girl cubs picked dance partners to shake their hips with, performing erotic acts of sin while keeping their clothes on.

'The fire blazed with intense passion, every so often flames jutted outwards like it was extending a 'come hither' finger'

'The atmosphere was so inviting and yet I sat rooted away from the activities, close by a dwindling fire near the pitched up tints.'

Whilst in my period of self loathing my acute hearing picked up the sounds of an approaching body. As the person came closer I could tell by the unsteady feet, crunching the sand beneath his rotund girth. The smell of strong liquor oozed from his lips, his heavy breathing betraying his position,

"Ah, child you are the strangest I have known in all my centuries of living,"

I didn't have to turn to know that it was the elder's son who decided to visit me this evening. He promptly took a seat beside me in the sand the sound of his rum filled stomach sloshing with every movement. He turned to me his flask half raised to his black lips before he paused and stared at me with disgust.

"You and this diseased carrying head ornament will cause misfortune on us Nanao!" he said bravely snatching off my hijab with his claws. He observed it with curious intentions then quickly threw it before me. "That is a symbol of the crown, you are amongst savages…we have no need for these material goods. To suffer-" he began.

"Is the way of the land…" I finished almost dreamlike. The wind blew once more the air was dry and arid; the sky was dark, without the fire light it made it difficult to tell the sky from the dunes.

'I am one of many…'

'But the masses are not of me…'

He threw a stray piece of wood into the dwindling flame, through the added light I was able to observe his stripes. His skin was dark three shades darker than my beach sand hue. His stripes covered the majority of his face, the roundness of his stomach his little stubby legs in a darker tint. His eyes were red… like the color of the fire that flickered in the night.

He took a swig of his rum and handed me the flask, simultaneously lighting an herb to smoke. Eagerly I took a sip, the liquid burned my throat at first then soothed my senses enough to dull my reactions when from the corner of my eye Abdul, as he was called had pointed to my cheek the edge of his dagger. At this point I had stopped drinking, and calmly placed his drink to my side not daring to turn my face.

"For the longest while, I have suspected nothing but ill fortune from you…you live amongst thieves, vandals, outcasts, and vagabonds, respectable demons alike. What keeps our bond strong was the great ill done to us by our own kind…imagine being kicked out of your own home, told that you were not worth the scum of this earth, then forced to find a home in this barren desert."

Through his speech I did not once turn my eye to him, figuring this as a part of his drunken stupor I let him have his say.

"What does that have to do with me?" I said entertaining his nerve. "There are many of us who believe that you are a spy sent by the royal guards, I will not be responsible for another massacre of my kind."

At this statement I drifted back to my last night in Egypt. The rivers ran red with blood, the city had looked as if it had been pillaged, when it was "cleansed" of the Stripped hyena demons. Every where I ran I was met with the color red. It stained the walls, it scorched the sky… it painted my hands. My thoughts were interrupted as he poked me cheek a little more forceful, I could smell the poison dripping from the blade.

"Nor shall I…nor shall I."


	3. All The Kings Men

Book One: Princess of the Nile

Chapter three: All the kings' men…

"I am worthless; it does you no justice in taking the life of a wondering murderer."

"Murderer?" he repeated.

"It cannot mend the broken hearts, heal festering wounds of betrayal, my deceit belongs on the last tier of hell reserved for the truly unjust."

"Then why bring your misfortunes upon the desert dwelling striped hyenas."

There was no going back. Through his drunken episode he had exposed the cracks in his faith in my as a clan member through he's loose lips. The moment he asked me my true purpose showed that despite the fact that I had been initiated as a clan member, I was no real stripped hyena. I felt a sense of shame wash over me, imagining the talking members mock the little outcast who paraded around the campsite like she belonged when deep down their mistrust of me has been bubbling within them since my arrival. Perhaps they saw through me, my unclean linage, my motives for following them into the desert; it cuts deep knowing that the people that you learned to call family, lived with for more than a decade, teach you the secrets of survival in this harsh land, turn into complete strangers who only learned to put up with your presence. From this moment on I knew there was no going back, I knew I could no longer stay, I am not wanted therefore not needed, as soon as this conversation was over I would pack what little I had and be on my way.

"Rest your nerves…I am no slave of the state." I began the essay that was my life. "I would sooner slit my throat then serve under the king. If you wish to continue to find fault in my being here, I will not wrong you. I didn't belong in Cairo, perhaps I don't belong here either." I took a pause deciding whether or not I should expand on my true reasons for even being here. "I wanted to right the wrongs in my past." Was all I could muster. If I told him the truth, about my family's involvement in the ethnic cleansing of Cairo, I could not bare to stare him in the eye afterwards.

I felt the blade leave my cheek, and a weighted sigh escape his pursed lips. He rubbed the stubble perforating his double chins. His bald head gleamed in the moonlight, he sat back observing the stars, his weapon resting on his lap.

"I'm sorry but you must understand, many of us have been on edge since those ten years ago…we live in constant fear that our livelihood is constantly in danger." I was silent; fuming over Abdul's inconsiderate actions that now force me to leave this oasis, shattering my illusions, thankfully, of what paradise supposedly is.

"When we were kicked out of Cairo, we were given warning, and for those who did not take it seriously, those who felt that the jackals, underneath the king had little power to enforce such a command were greatly punished. And the poor queen, had her title and her woman hood stripped from her by her own lover," Abdul said, continuing on his tangent

"I'll be leaving soon" I said abruptly. "I would hate to disturb your festivities."

There is a reason for everything. There was a reason I was brought to Egypt, because there was I reason why I had to leave Japan. There was a reason why I left Cairo, and now there is a reason why I must go back to it. And yet though there are reasons, there are no answers; but I was sure of one thing though, my experiences with the striped hyena demon clan have taught me the power of the earth. I felt the disturbances near and far, I felt the change in plates, the movement of the sand. My heighten demon senses taught me that when danger approaches to leave, to avoid casualties. Because as I said my last sentence to poor drunk Abdul, I didn't have to feel for anything, the Royal army had appeared upon the horizon.


	4. Horizon

Book One: Princess of the Nile

Chapter Four: Horizon

'The kings' army'

'The undead army'

'The Red Horizon'

In youth, my mother had always preached sermons of what a great and magnificent city Cairo was. She would lament on the luxuries she grew up with, tell tales of the grandeur of the festive feast, the raw culture and sense of pride she held for her city. A common feature I would not realize until I actually lived in the palace with the royal family was what a farce she spoke of. Every expectation I had completely came undone. I felt as though she had lied to me. There was a time I had resented her death, because my life afterwards spiraled into a complete downturn. When I got a little older, another detail I missed, in youth during one of my many ponderings, occurred to me…all the stories she told me had a common theme, she was no older than I am now when she enjoyed those cherished moments.

'_Ra smiles upon Egypt, Osiris winks lovingly towards his gem which is Cairo…'_

'…_For he gives us the curse of the undead army…'_

I had only heard once the story of the kings' army. As a cub even amongst demon families, are we warned on bad behavior. I had a habit for wandering off; I tended to change my hiding locations too often, which at times upset my mother, especially when her "visiting sister" appeared. She would admonish me for my disobeying her wishes, and then tell me ghost stories about the fabled kings' army. In my mind I had imagined the army to be as numerous as the stars, bronzed by their training in the desert, gleaming from head to toe in shiny gold armor, dressed in cotton, bows and quivers adorning the backs of some, curved swords hanging menacingly from the waist of others. On one of my "alone time" walks I would be cautious not to wander too far…the vivid images of soldiers slicing throats, carving out hearts feasting on the flesh of their own, their horrid breath creeping down the backs of their target, their bloodshot eyes dark as crimson. I would imagine the terror that a soldier of the kings' army was capable of because as my mother said it was commanded by a blood-craving, sword wielding madman.

'_Cairo seems so alluring and inviting, and yet…you are here mama…' _

'_Take heed to my lesson tonight child, nothing last forever…happiness is certainly not immune to misfortune.'_

When I arrived in Cairo I was notably disappointed and taken aback by my mothers' utter fabrication. I continued to roam the palace halls, restricted and lonely for the next 15 years until I bared witness to my mothers' one lesson I continue to hold true even today. The army was a cruel organization that usurped the power of the queen, and changed the lives of many hyena demons, citizens, and exiles alike who resided in Cairo. The rumors were all true, their impending threat was real, and the remaining desert dwellers had little time to save their hides.

'The kings' army'

'The undead army'

'The Red Horizon'

The names that I have heard many demons refer to the army as, I now understand why they were called so. They are an extension of the king, their abilities lay at the command of a king; wherever king sent his soldiers, they left a messy scene of blood splatter and fire painting the horizon red; at first glance their bodies are ragged dirty and scrawny, the look less like an army and more like savaging mercenaries, perhaps their conditioned to life out in the Sahara; they rose from the ground like corpses, and in similar fashion descend into the sand like mummy's returning to their sarcophagus.

'I should leave…'

'But, what of the others?'

They rode a cloud of dust towards our location, brandishing swords and spears. I sniffed gauging how far off the approaching army was and decided that I must at least warn the elder before I left; with a lingering look I memorized the moving horizon before returning to Abdul.


	5. Teacher

Book One: Princess of the Nile

Chapter five: Teacher

'He was a disappointment to his people'

'He should have been the last to know'

Abdul was an all around slob; he had no sense of etiquette or manners and behaved too vulgar for my taste. Normally I prefer to abstain from referring to any of my people as being ignorant but he comes very close to the definition. He was the son of an influential and affluent elder, and whilst still in Cairo enjoyed the enriching education of tutors who had come from neighboring worlds. Yet he displayed his abilities through poor choices, or even worse not at all, fulfilling the incorrect category of what it was to be a stripped hyena demon. I personally didn't care for him whilst in his company but felt an overwhelming sense of guilt whenever I was around him. I felt as though my feelings toward him swayed like a pendulum, one moment I preferred to enjoy his loud laughter and sneering nonsense about others and then the next I couldn't stand to hear him so much as breathe.

'My feelings to his son where of disgust but the elder I adored'

'I felt that he lifted the veil to see, which at times I wished he had left the opaque fabric in place'

The elder was a respectable man, a hero to a people; it was like he was prophesized from birth to be something great, it's not like he didn't have the necessary to do it. He had his people's hopes and dreams on his back, the weight of oppression on his shoulders, and he placed himself upon this high pedestal all the while cautioning his self to step lightly. I adored a man who became my father, who understood I was allowed to be bitter and angry at the world, but that I had the ability to change it. Upon my maiden voyage I had arrived to Cairo, afraid of being. Introspectively I must say that I was such a foolish cub to be afraid of life in general, I had closed off a world that I had little knowledge of, and there he was a tutor to the grandchild of the reigning queen. Once he broke through to me my feelings of initial hatred evolved into admiration. I realized one day that my feelings would eventually progress into what from the outside in would have been seen as childlike affinity, but what I knew dove deeper than a common little fling. He gave me a world to no longer be afraid of, and told me to protect it from all that endangered it. When the massacre occurred I could no longer dwell in the palace so the next best thing was to travel with the one who I had loved. As I grew I found myself fantasizing about childlike scenarios of building a kingdom with strong pups and a safe haven for refugees like us, but along the line a series of unfortunate events occurred and I became distant towards his tribes.

It would probably be the first time in years that I would engage him into a conversation, so pitiable it would have to be the last one perhaps I might ever get the chance to have. I followed my nose to find the elder deep in thought, these were moments were he preferred not to be disturbed, I made the effort to be catlike in my grace and tried to be inconspicuous as I sat behind him. Barely visible against the black of the night my vision was not as keen as my hearing, thus I had to rely on the memory of the feel of his sculpted body, and his skin that brandished tribal art covering him from head to toe.

"Have you come to tell me that you will be going off on your own again…little Nanao," His raspy voice revealed the years in his age; he placed a wooden pipe to his lips. I stood stiff; no matter how close I got to my master I could never understand my apprehension towards him. I was quietly formulating my thoughts into a coherent sentence without making the mistake of upsetting him. "I did not expect you to leave so soon."

"Well it's of urgency that I request your permission to go…"

"No," he stated as if it a fact of life. He had never exercised his right to say no to me, so naturally my facial features betrayed the disapproval I felt internally.

He glanced behind his shoulder and remarked in a facetious sounding tone, "the luxury you are bestowed to simply dodge problems as you see fit."

"Master?" I remarked.

He stood and I felt the majestic presence of a man-god standing before, I felt as though my position merely kneeling was not even enough. "I have studied you over the years and I would have thought that we have grown closer to one another."

'We did…' I said mentally. "I have watched you come and go as you please only ever daring to grace your presence with mine when you want an itch scratched…I have come to see myself as your habit."

"Habit…I think you are mistaken in your assessments of my frequent visits. You are enjoyable to be around, I come for company, piece of mind, nothing more."

"Lies." He answered back. "Flattery will delay your start to the finish line in my book."

"These last three months I feared for you. It shows insecurity on my part, because I am your teacher, of the lessons that I taught you. It has been rumored that there is a bounty on your head, and I thought that by your running away perhaps you knew how grave the situation was. But when you came back I was relieved and partly concerned. Not only had you come back under my watchful eye but you were unharmed." He paused as if he was to give a prophetic warning to me as his warm brown eyes turned to steely silver, piercing my heart like a sword, I didn't know what to expect next from him, and I was almost afraid to hear.

"I was disappointed when I thought that you had known of this threat. It made me feel as though you women are all the same. You seek men as the answer to your problems not realizing you become the problem. And then when you refused to even acknowledge what we had I became angry, and now I regret what I had done."

At first I had no opinion on what the elder spoke until he claimed to regret his decision to engage in a relationship far past inappropriate with a student. In a nutshell I was not the least bit pleased, I had not come back nor disturbed his thoughts to hear what his feelings were about us, I just wanted to tell him the danger that drew closer; I began having second thoughts about even mentioning what was about to happen.

'He gave me his word and I showed him my love…'

'He took back his heart and so I run away heartless.'

"Regardless of your feelings towards me now _elder_, I just wanted to inform you to evacuate the premise, unless you want to test your fate and watch your people die I might offer the suggestion to act quickly." His stern features quickly widened with the sudden news as now he seemed to react slower that usual. He brushed pass me muttering about my incompetence, and my lack of timing cursing my reasons for not alerting him earlier. He motioned for me to follow him and he quickly muttered "we will not run. Neither will you." He said almost reading my thoughts.


End file.
